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Project Mizuno

Talk about a one of a kind!

This is Shane's 270mm Mizuno gyuto with a blue steel core with (I believe) iron cladding that has been thinned, etched, polished, and upgraded to a new Stefan Keller handle.

The blade was well used so I was asked to do the full spa treatment to clean & thin it up. After grinding on it some I could see the potential for some neat effects if the blade was etched so I ran the idea past Shane and he said go for it.

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

The handle is African blackwood with a vintage bakelite ferrule & blue mammoth end cap. Nice!

To get the blade looking the best I could get it meant polishing it pre-etch and then polishing it post-etch as well. Took me 4 attempts before I was satisfied. The result is something that could barely be captured in the pictures, the cladding is a shiny gun metal color while the core steel is a smokey brown/black....looks 100x better in person, you'll have to take my word for that.

Beautiful Dave! I know the exact colors and effect you mean. In sunlight I bet the 'gunmetal' cladding reflects a microscopic sized rainbow of colors, while the hard edge steel took on a grey/brown/black color. The way you polished it it almost looks like a monosteel blade with a very narrow clay hardening!

I try to be the man I am..in times of broken lives. Shattered dreams and plans..standing up to fight. Pressures and demands..staring at the knife. Holding in your hands..